This invention relates to bulldozer blade mountings and more particularly to a blade mounting arrangement including a centrally located universal pivot joint and a pair of hydraulic jacks.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,631,930, there is disclosed a blade mounting arrangement comprising a bulldozer blade having its lower rear surface connected centrally by a universal joint to a C-frame, a pair of angling jacks extending substantially horizontally between respective sides of the blade and the C-frame for adjusting blade angle, and a tilting jack interposed between the blade and the C-frame for stabilizing the blade with respect to a horizontal plane and for controlling blade tilt.
With this prior arrangement, when the tilting jack is actuated to accomplish vertical tilt adjustment of the blade, the pair of angling jacks are urged to move arcuately in opposite, vertical directions, thereby causing the blade to deflect backward. In this instance, the tilting jack coupled between the blade and the C-frame has a tilt bracket serving to limit the rearwardly deflecting movement of the blade. Thus, blade tilt is adjusted with the blade and the tilt bracket slightly yielding to the limiting force. A problem with the prior art mounting arrangement is that the arrangement is subjected to excessive stresses and an amount of tilt adjustment of the blade is restricted.